Motivations and Stake Management in Producing YouTube 'Bro-Science' Videos for Baldness Treatment

    Andrew McNeill, Elizabeth Sillence
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    TLDR People make 'bro-science' baldness treatment videos on YouTube to share experiences, communicate product benefits, and create a community.
    The study "Motivations and stake management in producing YouTube 'bro-science' videos for baldness treatment" by Andrew McNeill and Elizabeth Sillence, published in 2018, analyzed 72 'bro-science' videos on YouTube related to baldness treatment. 'Bro-science' is a sub-genre of user-generated health videos where users test products on themselves and attempt to convince others of their effectiveness. The study found that the motivations for creating these videos included a sense of external compulsion, the desire to communicate product benefits, the intention to share careful research, and the wish to share personal experiences. The 'bro-science' genre was found to function by incorporating the viewer into the poster's experience, creating a community of people who share not only problems but also solutions.
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